Everything is connected. And it's all terrible. And then more people will die.

[Bucky]

You know, a lot of this stuff going on--Palestine, Ukraine, juvenile refugees on the Texas border, ISIS taking over parts of Iraq & Syria, Chinese labor abuses, Jihadists in Chad--it's all connected. This is what global overpopulation looks like. If you think things look bad now, wait till multinational corporations finish privatizing the world's fresh water supply.

[appal_jack]

1. Still, we've got to keep hope alive.

Still, we've got to keep hope alive.

Resistance is fertile!

The connections you outline between all these serious problems are indeed true. And present trends would indeed worsen things considerably.

But there is grass growing up beneath the concrete. Permaculture, ecological design, biointensive organic agriculture, solar and wind energy, and other innovations all offer us the chance to live better together, even as we work toward a demographic transition to stabilize and then gradually reduce human population (hopefully with as little war, pestilence, and famine as possible along the way).

I am trying to do my part. Do I consume way too much? Yes, certainly. But I'll probably stop at one child, or two at absolute most. I'll keep trying to grow more of my own food, work more cooperatively with my neighbors, and stand up for what I believe is right whenever I can.

Hang in there, Bucky.

-app

[Uncle Joe]

2. Everything is connected, Bucky, whether it be love or hate, it's up to us as to which connections

Last edited Fri Jul 25, 2014, 02:11 AM - Edit history (1)

we wish to strengthen and which will be left to wither on the vine.

Hate can never conquer hate, but only feed upon itself.

Love is the only dynamic that can conquer hate and send it to the dustbin of history.

Just as the Internet connects us to the world so must our love, crossing all boundaries, borders, tribes, races, religions and gender, it's the only answer, this includes love of our environment.

Thanks for the thread, and peace to you.

[freshwest]

4. Great reply.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

3. I'm getting pretty pessimistic in my old age

I agree that overpopulation and the dwindling of the planet's resources are big problems that could potentially devastate our civilization. But I'm even more pessimistic about the growth of technology, especially of the kind that will one day lead to ever more advanced weapons for the mass extinctions of people in various parts of the world. We know Israel has a nuclear weapon. We've known it since the 1950s when the French built Israel's first nuclear research reactors and gave them unfettered access to the data from their bomb tests in the Pacific. Thank God the Israelis haven't used it yet. But I think it's just a matter of time before other nations in the same region get it and we then see a sudden murder fest with each power trying to pre-emptively use it before the other side uses it on them. That might not happen in the next twenty years but I won't bet against that ever happening on a massive scale as I don't see the extreme hatred ever ending. I think it's just a matter of time.